It’s Official: J.Cole is an original hope dealer

Before wrapping his annual Dollar and a Dream tour, J.Cole had another date to make. New Jersey teen Cierra Bosarge wrote him an inspiring letter after meeting him 2 years prior to her high school graduation, he promised to come to her graduation as long as she got into 4 year college. Fast forward to present time and Cole not only kept his promise, but he followed up with some new ones as if his support was not motivating enough.

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Cole has been getting a lot of recognition for how much he rides for his fans, but it’s clear the 2014 Forest Hills Drive rapper isn’t doing what he does for the props. He’s the first rap artist in 25 years to have a platinum album without any features, and yet he’s shunned at music award ceremonies. The appreciation for J.Cole – you’ll find more of that in the streets where there’s an audience that relates to not only his musical content, also his actions in their communities. Earlier this year Cole announced that he’d be letting single mothers live rent free for two years in the home that inspired his latest studio release. “My goal is to have that be a haven for families. So every two years, a new family will come in. They’ll live rent-free.” the rapper told BET reporters. Cole raps about his mother losing the home, which he eventually would repurchase. A mother who is not able to afford a place where her kids can have their own rooms will be able to get that feeling J.Cole and his family got when they first moved in. That feeling is hope.

Since the rapper’s release of his first project, The Come Up, his musical theme has been all about creating and chasing your dreams to make a better life. Giving the fans approachable stories of struggle, then how it’s possible to overcome, has been Cole’s business. He doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

Salute to Jermaine Lamar Cole for his strides of leadership as a man and an artist.

The age of the beards is happening before our eyes, and not that we don’t want to accept it; we just fail to notice the trends that support the freedom in growing and grooming a beard. To live boldly, you must be prepared to thrive beyond the conventional ways of thought and action. That’s how a real man does it.